"So... hows things between you and... you know who?" Jung Ah asked quietly.
"You know you can say his name right? Things are still weird." Jongin replied, shrugging.
"Did you all like officially break up?" Sehun asked, raising an eyebrow.
Taemin and Jongin had gotten into an argument that ended with Jongin leaving the house. It had been a month since the argument and he was still staying at the EXO dorm.
To complicate things even more, Jung Ah was pregnant as a surrogate for them once again. They had wanted to add on one more member to their family while their twins were still really young because they didn't want a big age gap between them.
And that had added stress which ended up leading to the blow out argument and Jongin not living at home anymore.
Jongin shook his head, sighing. "No - we're just taking a break from each other. We've still been talking everyday through text, only about the twins though."
"How are the twins doing?"
"They're okay. Apparently Daehyun has been giving Taemin some trouble, but they're doing okay other than that. They're two so they obviously don't understand what's happening. I miss getting to see them everyday. They wanted to know why they couldn't go with me the other day when I stopped by and I lied, told them that I had to go practice all night and that that was why."
"Why couldn't they go with you? Is he not letting you take them?" Jung Ah asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, that's not it at all. It's just my room at EXO's dorm is definitely not set up for two toddlers. Taemin's not keeping me from them in any way."
"Good."
Jongin pushed his hair out of his face, "Most of my stuff is still over there. And according to Taemin there's no rush or anything for me to officially move out. We're both wanting to work through things - it's just complicated right now."
"How is this going to work if you all don't figure it out?" Sehun asked, glancing over at Jung Ah. "Jung Ah only has a couple months left in the pregnancy and you two are barely talking?"
"It's not ideal, that's for sure." Jongin said, nodding. "But we'll work it out somehow."
■
Jongin was surprised when his phone rung late one night, even more surprised when he saw the caller ID. Taem.
"Hey - what's up? Is everything okay?" He asked, answering the phone. The first thing he could hear was one of the twins crying loudly, which worried him.
"In general terms yes everything's fine. However I need you to come here. Daehyun is upset, he wants you. And apparently this isn't a time where I can soothe him."
Jongin was already out of his bed by the time he heard Daehyun in the background, hollering I want appa.
"What's got him upset?"
"He just misses you and wants you here. Nothing happened in particular."
"Tell him I'm on my way." Jongin said, "I'll be there as soon as I can get there."
"Thank you, Jongin."
"No need to thank me." Jongin replied, grabbing a shirt from his dresser before he hung up.
They might still not be talking about them but if Daehyun wanted him over there, then he'd be there as quickly as he could get there.
■
Jongin pulled into the driveway and hurried up to the front door, opening it with his key. He found Taemin sitting on the couch, rocking a crying Daehyun back and forth.
"Daehyun, look who's here." Taemin said quietly, getting Daehyun to turn around.
Daehyun spun around and got down from Taemin's lap - meeting Jongin halfway across the room. Jongin picked him up in a hug and moved to sit down on the couch beside Taemin. Daehyun had his head rested on Jongin's shoulder while crying.
"Hey Dae, it's okay bud. Appa's here." He said, looking over at Taemin. Taemin looked tired and Jongin could only guess how long Daehyun's crying fit had gone on for. "If you need to get some sleep, I can get him to sleep and then head out."
Taemin shook his head, "I'm fine. I'm gonna go check on Seojun and make sure he's still asleep. I'll be right back." He said, getting up from the couch and walking out of the living room. Daehyun sat back some, rubbing at his eyes.
"You've gotta go to bed in a few minutes, Daehyun." Jongin said, pressing a kiss to Daehyun's forehead.
"Miss you appa."
"I know, I miss you and your brother too. And your daddy."
Jongin had put off looking at an apartment or house of his own, not wanting to move on to that as the next step yet - he wanted to still hope that him and Taemin would work things out. But he was missing out on time that he could be spending with the twins by not having a place yet.
Taemin walked back through the living room and into the kitchen, looking through the fridge.
"I'll see about getting somewhere where you and your brother can come stay with me, okay?" Jongin said, hugging Daehyun back up to him.
Daehyun nodded, resting his head back against Jongin's shoulder. "Appa - stay tonight?"
"I can't, Dae. I've gotta go back to the dorm."
Daehyun let out a whine and Jongin gently rocked the small boy back and forth, rubbing his hand against Daehyun's back. He knew it wouldn't take long before his son was asleep and it definitely didn't - within a couple minutes Daehyun was out.
Jongin stood up from the couch, carrying him down the hallway and to the twins bedroom. He got Daehyun into his bed and covered him up before he walked back down the hallway.
"He's asleep, so I put him in his bed and I guess I'll head out now." Jongin said, looking over at Taemin.
Taemin nodded, "Thank you for coming over and getting him calmed down."
"No problem, there's nothing I wouldn't do for either of the twins - or you. So yeah no problem at all."
"We should get together sometime and talk about things."
"Just let me know when you want to."
■
Jongin walked up to Jung Ah's apartment, holding onto one of each of the twins hands. Jongin had reached out to his sister and Sehun earlier in the day about watching Daehyun and Seojun for a few hours while Jongin and Taemin talked about things.
Jung Ah opened the door, and the twins hurried into the apartment - hugging Jung Ah. "Hey guys. Uncle Sehun is in the play room setting up something for you two."
Daehyun and Seojun took off through the apartment. Jung Ah stood back up and looked at Jongin. "Just let us know whenever you're on your way to pick them up. Don't worry about rushing back, they'll be fine."
Jongin nodded, "Thanks for watching them."
"No problem. I hope you guys get things worked out."
"Same here." Jongin said, "I'm not sure if we actually will but I sure hope we do."
"You all need to, not just for yourselves but for the twins and the baby."
■
Jongin and Taemin had been sitting across from each other in silence for a few minutes. Jongin didn't know how to even begin the multitude of conversations that needed to happen between them.
"What happened to us?" Taemin said quietly. "I mean really Jongin, we were doing good and then all the sudden..."
"I don't know." Jongin replied, shaking his head. "I miss you and the boys. I feel like I'm missing out on everything. And after Daehyun's meltdown the other day, I'm worried about how this will eventually affect the twins."
"I'm worried too. He's been throwing more temper tantrums and has been upset more since you've been gone. Seojun's been acting up more too. They both miss you so much and I do too."
"Where do we go from here though, Taem? Seriously - neither of us even know what happened to push us to this point of not even living together at this point and I've been staying at the dorm hoping that we'd figure this out but that's cost me time with Daehyun and Seojun. So if we're not going to work this out, we need to decide that and I need to get a place where the boys can come and stay with me."
Taemin nodded, "Yeah... don't buy your own place. Come home and we'll work it out somehow. Time apart hasn't helped any, if anything it's only made things worse. So maybe time together is what we need."
"Are you sure? I mean do you really want me back home?"
"Yes I do. You should have never left home or if you did, you should have been back within a couple weeks. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to ask you to come back."
"I'll come home, but we've got to figure this out. We have another baby on the way and I know for a fact that there's no way one of us can handle a newborn and two year old twins alone."
"You're right, there's no way."
■
It had been a few days since Jongin had moved back in with Taemin and the twins. He had spent all of his nights on a blow up mattress in the living room - which wasn't the most comfortable set up, but it meant he got to see his sons every day again.
Taemin and him hadn't spoken much since he moved back in. They had been in the same room most of the time but not really acknowledging each other except for when it was to the benefit of the boys.
Jongin wanted to work on things, but also wanted to focus more on their sons first before he spent too much time on fixing them.
"Appa! Appa! Appa!" Seojun said, rushing up to Jongin.
Jongin picked him up, hugging him. "Seojun! Seojun! Seojun!" He replied, smiling. He glanced over to the kitchen counter, finding a small smile on Taemin's face. "Is your brother still asleep?"
Seojun nodded and Jongin walked him over to the table, placing him in one of the seats.
Taemin walked over and placed a kiss on Seojun's forehead before placing his plate with breakfast in front of Seojun. "You want to go get Daehyun or want me to?" He said, looking up at Jongin.
"I can if you want."
Taemin nodded and Jongin walked down the hallway, entering the twins room and walking over to Daehyun's small bed. He placed a hand on Daehyun's back, rubbing gently.
"Daehyunnie... it's time to get up." Jongin said, "Daddy's got your breakfast ready."
Daehyun rolled over, rubbing his eyes and whining slightly.
"I know, I know. But it's breakfast time. Seojunnie is already up and eating his breakfast." Daehyun's eyes opened slightly and Jongin laughed lightly. "Gosh trying to wake you up is so much like trying to wake your daddy."
Daehyun's eyes shut back and Jongin shook his head, "Come on Dae." He said, picking Daehyun up from the bed. Daehyun whined and laid his head against Jongin's shoulder.
Jongin walked out of the room and back up to the kitchen, patting Daehyun on the back the entire way. "I managed to find a sleepy Daehyun."
Taemin looked over, smile on his face. "Is he still asleep?"
"Well he was at least semi-awake when we left their room." Jongin said, laughing.
Daehyun raised his head up, rubbing at his eyes again. "Daddy... I'm tired."
Taemin walked over, "I know, Dae. But it's time to get up for the day." He said, running a hand over Daehyun's hair.
Daehyun nodded and Jongin sat him down in his chair. Daehyun began eating his breakfast.
■
The twins were playing with different toys in the living room while both Jongin and Taemin stood in the kitchen. Jongin glanced over at Taemin, "You know Dae is so much like you when I'm trying to wake him up."
Taemin laughed, "Funny considering the rest of the time he's just like you." He said, shaking his head.
"Seojun's a morning person for sure."
"Yep, which is just wonderful. One morning person and three non-morning people in our family."
Jongin nodded, grinning. "You're right about that and to top it off I'm sure the new baby will be keeping us up all night."
"I love you." Taemin said quietly, "I know things are weird right now, but I still love you no matter what."
"I love you too, Taem."
Taemin smiled, "You're still the only person I'd have wanted to do all of this with. Seojun and Daehyun are amazingly lucky to have you as their appa. And our baby will be just as lucky to have you as an appa as well."
"Shush, you're amazing enough on your own. Especially with the boys."
"We should see about getting someone to watch them sometime soon so that we can focus on us for a couple hours and see how things are."
"Yeah we should. I know Jung Ah and Sehun wouldn't mind watching them, or we can see if your parents would watch them."
"I'll check with my parents, I'm sure they'd be willing to watch the twins whenever we need them to. Not to mention I think Jung Ah could use a break from us and the twins all things considered." Taemin said, "Sleep in the bed tonight. I know that little blow up mattress can't be the most comfortable thing in the world and eventually you're going to fuck up your back sleeping on it."
Jongin nodded, "Thank you."
"No problem." Taemin said, nudging Jongin with his elbow. "I don't want your back permanently messed up."